I have had many teachers try to give me the gift of technology and the classroom and they have all failed pretty miserably. That was until Dr. Fogleman told me to download this and that at the beginning of the semester. I was mad it would take up space on my desktop. I was upset because I thought he didn't think we could handle his class on our own, with good old fashion word documents and legal pad and graphite pencil research. I was a skeptic. All of the apps I had ever had, all the note taking tools and technological academic assistance was frustrating and messy to me. I didn't like Evernote until I actually started using it. Using this program I began to understand technology was most often not the problem, but my thought process was. When I used to approach technology, it was under the impression that any problems I encountered would be a result of bad programming or design. Instead, it is having the intention of working with the program to get what I need out of it and understanding it takes time to learn how to do it right. I have found great freedom in the idea of a Personal Knowledge Base.
Research used to be something I gathered with the idea that it would fall away with the time. I would gather, write the paper, and then forget. Evernote makes it impossible to forget. I find the quality of my note taking has improved knowing that I am always going to be able to refer back to my thoughts. The notes are more complete because of the features on Evernote, I type notes, audio record lectures, and take pictures that remind me of where I was at the time. These complete thoughts and experiences become more valuable and thus more necessarily made long lasting. I also seem to be more interested in gathering information because it has become more important to me. There is no longer a sense of purposeless reading. Thought provoking articles I run into find their way into my PKB just like memories do in my brain. Now that I have a place to gather thoughts I am able to organize them too.
The more I use Evernote the more it becomes a part of my thought process. My internal stream of consciousness can be messy and disorganized, but when I translate it into a note in my PKB it becomes useful synthesis. Taking notes on Evernote allows the chaotic thought I have during classes or lectures to become streamline and clean. When I have a particularly interesting thought, I'll put a star next to it. When I find thoughts accumulating under a broader idea, I'll create a heading to act as an "idea umbrella". It's incredible to also find moments where articles read from other classes or on different days integrate into a current note I'm writing. In these cases I'll create links to those previous ideas. Evernote becomes a map of inner consciousness that allows me to navigate my thinking most effectively.
Above all the beauty I have found in having a PKB is being able to document my "Aha" moments. It is empowering to take note of all the times I find myself figuring things out. I have more "Aha" moments when I engage in what I'm listening to and Evernote allows me to do this. Instead of sitting stagnantly listening to my Sailing Coach's weekly talk, I have created a specific notebook for "Skip Sayings". Now during our team meetings I listen for specific " Skip Sayings" that are poignant and memorable. Before regattas I am able to look back over my notes and remember the important specific things to be looking for out on the water. I even have entire notebooks dedicated just to "Aha" moments. One of my notebooks is titled Decision Making and the other is Understanding Mind. The Decision Making notebook has become a comprehensive collection of pros and cons lists as well as other mind maps I have been using to understand just what my point of view is. Having a notebook dedicated to clarifying my thoughts makes working through everything that much easier. My PKB has become its own "Aha" moment.
In EDC 102H I have found a tool to use for a lifetime. My PKB includes a collection of 10 note books (5 of them within another notebook entitled EDUCATION). Still figuring out the organization tool of tags, I only have 8, but find great use in my one entitled Class Notes. In this tag, all the notes I take in class can be found and separated out of my web clippings. This creates what my normal spiral notebook might have looked like, and instead of all the loose leaf printed articles, I have book marks to them online where they will never be lost. Out of the 149 notes I have amassed, most useful are the ones that combine many of the other notes in one. My most used and favorite note created is entitled "A Day with Mona! <3 In the CMLS 11/8/13". In this note I have created a guide on how to approach a research topic. It has links to data bases and useful websites as well as "Aha" ideas from Mona herself. This notebook is the greatest example I have of the power in a PKB. Being at the CML that day, which according to my note was November 8th, it would have been easy for me to leave without anything accept for a few research ideas. Having a PKB makes it easy to be smart. All I do is take note of what is of value to me and hide it away in my treasure chest of an Evernote that I have accepted as friend instead of foe. Human has only ever had concrete records, whether it was cavemen and their carved stone artwork, or 16th century's parchment and quill we now have something that aims to stand the test of time. We have our brains and a virtual cloud heavy with the condensation of discovery.
When a Skeptic met an Expert
I have had many teachers try to give me the gift of technology and the classroom and they have all failed pretty miserably. That was until Dr. Fogleman told me to download this and that at the beginning of the semester. I was mad it would take up space on my desktop. I was upset because I thought he didn't think we could handle his class on our own, with good old fashion word documents and legal pad and graphite pencil research. I was a skeptic. All of the apps I had ever had, all the note taking tools and technological academic assistance was frustrating and messy to me. I didn't like Evernote until I actually started using it. Using this program I began to understand technology was most often not the problem, but my thought process was. When I used to approach technology, it was under the impression that any problems I encountered would be a result of bad programming or design. Instead, it is having the intention of working with the program to get what I need out of it and understanding it takes time to learn how to do it right. I have found great freedom in the idea of a Personal Knowledge Base.
Research used to be something I gathered with the idea that it would fall away with the time. I would gather, write the paper, and then forget. Evernote makes it impossible to forget. I find the quality of my note taking has improved knowing that I am always going to be able to refer back to my thoughts. The notes are more complete because of the features on Evernote, I type notes, audio record lectures, and take pictures that remind me of where I was at the time. These complete thoughts and experiences become more valuable and thus more necessarily made long lasting. I also seem to be more interested in gathering information because it has become more important to me. There is no longer a sense of purposeless reading. Thought provoking articles I run into find their way into my PKB just like memories do in my brain. Now that I have a place to gather thoughts I am able to organize them too.
The more I use Evernote the more it becomes a part of my thought process. My internal stream of consciousness can be messy and disorganized, but when I translate it into a note in my PKB it becomes useful synthesis. Taking notes on Evernote allows the chaotic thought I have during classes or lectures to become streamline and clean. When I have a particularly interesting thought, I'll put a star next to it. When I find thoughts accumulating under a broader idea, I'll create a heading to act as an "idea umbrella". It's incredible to also find moments where articles read from other classes or on different days integrate into a current note I'm writing. In these cases I'll create links to those previous ideas. Evernote becomes a map of inner consciousness that allows me to navigate my thinking most effectively.
Above all the beauty I have found in having a PKB is being able to document my "Aha" moments. It is empowering to take note of all the times I find myself figuring things out. I have more "Aha" moments when I engage in what I'm listening to and Evernote allows me to do this. Instead of sitting stagnantly listening to my Sailing Coach's weekly talk, I have created a specific notebook for "Skip Sayings". Now during our team meetings I listen for specific " Skip Sayings" that are poignant and memorable. Before regattas I am able to look back over my notes and remember the important specific things to be looking for out on the water. I even have entire notebooks dedicated just to "Aha" moments. One of my notebooks is titled Decision Making and the other is Understanding Mind. The Decision Making notebook has become a comprehensive collection of pros and cons lists as well as other mind maps I have been using to understand just what my point of view is. Having a notebook dedicated to clarifying my thoughts makes working through everything that much easier. My PKB has become its own "Aha" moment.
In EDC 102H I have found a tool to use for a lifetime. My PKB includes a collection of 10 note books (5 of them within another notebook entitled EDUCATION). Still figuring out the organization tool of tags, I only have 8, but find great use in my one entitled Class Notes. In this tag, all the notes I take in class can be found and separated out of my web clippings. This creates what my normal spiral notebook might have looked like, and instead of all the loose leaf printed articles, I have book marks to them online where they will never be lost. Out of the 149 notes I have amassed, most useful are the ones that combine many of the other notes in one. My most used and favorite note created is entitled "A Day with Mona! <3 In the CMLS 11/8/13". In this note I have created a guide on how to approach a research topic. It has links to data bases and useful websites as well as "Aha" ideas from Mona herself. This notebook is the greatest example I have of the power in a PKB. Being at the CML that day, which according to my note was November 8th, it would have been easy for me to leave without anything accept for a few research ideas. Having a PKB makes it easy to be smart. All I do is take note of what is of value to me and hide it away in my treasure chest of an Evernote that I have accepted as friend instead of foe. Human has only ever had concrete records, whether it was cavemen and their carved stone artwork, or 16th century's parchment and quill we now have something that aims to stand the test of time. We have our brains and a virtual cloud heavy with the condensation of discovery.